Ireland’s view of Britain is way out of date
The Queen's visit to the Irish Republic, the first of a Crown representative for decades, was seen as a momentous movement and a coming of age of relations between the UK and Ireland. The two were once united and their histories have been bound up together.
The rise of Irish nationalism, centred on the treatment of the Irish by British settlers and solidified by the Catholic faith, led to the break-up of the island of Ireland, with the north-east remaining part of the United Kingdom.
While Ireland cut its political ties with the UK, it also cut constitutional ties. Unlike Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Ireland became a republic. In recent years, the country has allegedly become more €European€, a move clearly designed to emphasise the country's links with the continent and not the British.
Speaking as a Briton of Irish descent €" one of nearly 12 million €" the problem is that Ireland's view of the UK is hopelessly out of date. For millions of Britons, Ireland can be claimed as an ancestral homeland. London, Luton, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool have been massively shaped by Irish immigration.
Catholicism is as strong in parts of the UK as in Ireland, thanks in part to conversions of Anglicans, immigration from Poland, Italy and Africa, but primarily because of the influx of the Irish. Within a generation most ethnic Irish born in Britain are deemed and self-identify as fully British, but no one forgets where their family has come from.
Herein is the problem. The Irish have been taught to believe that there is some inherent ethno-cultural difference between the British and Irish. Frankly, now, there is not. If Ireland were to draw closer to the UK €" this argument, by the way, could be made for Jamaica, India or Pakistan €" there is no way on earth, that any of the fears of nationalists could come true.
Put simply, there are now too many ethnic Irish in the British makeup, for the British to over undermine the Irish. It is an antiquated view which bifurcates essentially the same ethno-cultural group. There is a reason why the settler populations of Canada and Australia are referred to as Anglo-Celtic. The term is a more accurate description of the white British population now, than Anglo-Saxon.
Over the years the clear cultural links between the UK and Ireland have been cemented politically. Ireland is the only country outside of the Commonwealth Realms where nationals are able to serve in the British armed forces.
While constitutionally Britain and Australia are not foreign to each other, in actuality Ireland is not a foreign country to most Britons in the way other European countries are. Ireland and Britain share a common travel area, although immigration controls exist for those who have already entered one of the countries seeking to enter the other.
The British-Irish Council and the British-Irish Parliamentary Association seek to cement political relationships. For anyone travelling to Ireland from the UK, it does not feel different.
The buildings are the same, the landscape is the same, the culture is pretty much the same and the language is the same. Globalisation and ethnic co-mingling have effectively removed any remaining ethno-cultural barriers between both countries.
Note that the Council and Association are termed €British€ not €English€. It has often struck me that Ireland does not really object to a unity with the Celtic nations of Scotland and Wales. Indeed with the Celtic influence in the North of England, there is not even much hostility with Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle. Scotland offers a good analogy.
More than half of Scottish voters want to remain in the UK, according to the Daily Telegraph, while Channel 4 agrees that most Scots want more powers not full independence. The Huffington Post concurs, as does Scotland's Daily Record both in February, and the Wall Street Journal in March and the Scottish Herald in March.
But Scottish nationalism reveals something as interesting as Irish nationalism. Devolution has worked well and in fact, showed that a more federal system is workable in Britain. But with so many English people of Scottish and Welsh descent, and vice-versa, why even hint at independence?
It strikes me that, as for the Irish nationalists, the Scottish nationalists have an issue with the southern English, who they connote as the €establishment€. The Irish would have no reason to attack closer relations with Liverpudlians and Mancunians, let alone Glaswegians.
But even here they are wrong. London and the South East have a huge Celtic ethnic footprint, way too big again for any undermining by London. Indeed one need only look at the British Governments over the last few years to see the Scottish influence.
Local decision-making in the form of devolution is one thing, but manufactured cultural affinity with continental Europe over Britain is laughable. Ever since Ireland became fully independent, more and more Irish kept moving to Britain, bringing Catholicism and the €craic€ with them.
As Einstein once said, puerile nationalism is the measles of mankind €" always promising utopias which never materialise. Celtic nationalism is an insult to Anglo-Celts like myself, who consider England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as a common homeland. Not to be split up by opportunist, nationalist politicians.
The rise of Irish nationalism, centred on the treatment of the Irish by British settlers and solidified by the Catholic faith, led to the break-up of the island of Ireland, with the north-east remaining part of the United Kingdom.
While Ireland cut its political ties with the UK, it also cut constitutional ties. Unlike Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Ireland became a republic. In recent years, the country has allegedly become more €European€, a move clearly designed to emphasise the country's links with the continent and not the British.
Speaking as a Briton of Irish descent €" one of nearly 12 million €" the problem is that Ireland's view of the UK is hopelessly out of date. For millions of Britons, Ireland can be claimed as an ancestral homeland. London, Luton, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool have been massively shaped by Irish immigration.
Catholicism is as strong in parts of the UK as in Ireland, thanks in part to conversions of Anglicans, immigration from Poland, Italy and Africa, but primarily because of the influx of the Irish. Within a generation most ethnic Irish born in Britain are deemed and self-identify as fully British, but no one forgets where their family has come from.
Herein is the problem. The Irish have been taught to believe that there is some inherent ethno-cultural difference between the British and Irish. Frankly, now, there is not. If Ireland were to draw closer to the UK €" this argument, by the way, could be made for Jamaica, India or Pakistan €" there is no way on earth, that any of the fears of nationalists could come true.
Put simply, there are now too many ethnic Irish in the British makeup, for the British to over undermine the Irish. It is an antiquated view which bifurcates essentially the same ethno-cultural group. There is a reason why the settler populations of Canada and Australia are referred to as Anglo-Celtic. The term is a more accurate description of the white British population now, than Anglo-Saxon.
Over the years the clear cultural links between the UK and Ireland have been cemented politically. Ireland is the only country outside of the Commonwealth Realms where nationals are able to serve in the British armed forces.
While constitutionally Britain and Australia are not foreign to each other, in actuality Ireland is not a foreign country to most Britons in the way other European countries are. Ireland and Britain share a common travel area, although immigration controls exist for those who have already entered one of the countries seeking to enter the other.
The British-Irish Council and the British-Irish Parliamentary Association seek to cement political relationships. For anyone travelling to Ireland from the UK, it does not feel different.
The buildings are the same, the landscape is the same, the culture is pretty much the same and the language is the same. Globalisation and ethnic co-mingling have effectively removed any remaining ethno-cultural barriers between both countries.
Note that the Council and Association are termed €British€ not €English€. It has often struck me that Ireland does not really object to a unity with the Celtic nations of Scotland and Wales. Indeed with the Celtic influence in the North of England, there is not even much hostility with Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle. Scotland offers a good analogy.
More than half of Scottish voters want to remain in the UK, according to the Daily Telegraph, while Channel 4 agrees that most Scots want more powers not full independence. The Huffington Post concurs, as does Scotland's Daily Record both in February, and the Wall Street Journal in March and the Scottish Herald in March.
But Scottish nationalism reveals something as interesting as Irish nationalism. Devolution has worked well and in fact, showed that a more federal system is workable in Britain. But with so many English people of Scottish and Welsh descent, and vice-versa, why even hint at independence?
It strikes me that, as for the Irish nationalists, the Scottish nationalists have an issue with the southern English, who they connote as the €establishment€. The Irish would have no reason to attack closer relations with Liverpudlians and Mancunians, let alone Glaswegians.
But even here they are wrong. London and the South East have a huge Celtic ethnic footprint, way too big again for any undermining by London. Indeed one need only look at the British Governments over the last few years to see the Scottish influence.
Local decision-making in the form of devolution is one thing, but manufactured cultural affinity with continental Europe over Britain is laughable. Ever since Ireland became fully independent, more and more Irish kept moving to Britain, bringing Catholicism and the €craic€ with them.
As Einstein once said, puerile nationalism is the measles of mankind €" always promising utopias which never materialise. Celtic nationalism is an insult to Anglo-Celts like myself, who consider England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as a common homeland. Not to be split up by opportunist, nationalist politicians.
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